Step 1: Understand the access and early intervention requirements
Access requirements
It's important to understand the NDIS eligibility requirements before supporting your patient to access the NDIS.
Eligibility requirements include:
Evidence of disability requirements
You may need to provide evidence to show your patient meets the disability requirements. The evidence should address how:
- their disability is caused by one or more impairments
- their impairment is likely to be permanent
- their permanent impairment substantially reduces their functional capacity
- their impairment affects their social and economic participation
- they’ll likely need NDIS support for their lifetime.
We need evidence for each disability requirement to assess whether they meet our legal requirements.
You’ll need to understand which requirements you can support your patient with as their treating healthcare professional. This includes providing evidence of their disability, including medical conditions, if relevant.
Medical conditions
Some medical conditions may result in disability. The impairments related to chronic health conditions will be considered in the same way as impairments not related to chronic health conditions.
Your patient is likely to meet the disability requirements if:
- their impairments are permanent
- their impairments cause substantially reduced functional capacity
- they need NDIS supports for their lifetime.
Supports need to meet our reasonable and necessary criteria to be funded as an NDIS support.
The appendix section in the applying to the NDIS guideline provides a full list of medical conditions and explains how likely they are to meet the disability requirements.
Tip: Condition lists are a guide only.
The list of conditions outlined in the applying to the NDIS guideline is a guide only. We’ll still consider the evidence you provide about a condition to make sure it meets the NDIS rules.
Early intervention requirements
Your patient may be eligible for NDIS early intervention supports if they have a permanent impairment that doesn’t meet the disability requirements.
They may meet the early intervention requirements as well as the disability requirements if the evidence shows they meet both.
Early intervention support helps lessen the impact of your patients’ permanent impairment on their functional capacity as early as possible. It also helps your patient by reducing their need for disability specific support in the future.
It’s important to understand how patients, including children younger than 9, may meet the NDIS early intervention requirements, including the NDIS early childhood approach.
Step 2: Complete the 6-point checklist
Use the 6-point checklist to help assess your patient’s eligibility for the NDIS.
Download the eligibility checklist:
- NDIS eligibility checklist (PDF 133KB)
- NDIS eligibility checklist (DOCX 62KB)
Step 3: Help your patient connect with the NDIS
Encourage your patient to contact us if they have questions or need help.
Call us
Call us on 1800 800 110.
Use our service hub
Submit an enquiry through our service hub .
Speak to us in person
Encourage them to visit their local office in person.
We’ll help them learn about and apply to the NDIS.
You can help them with evidence for their application if they choose to apply.
Learn more about how to support your patient to access the NDIS.